Courtesy of Ron AustingThis Kirtland's warbler has a variety of tracking bands put on by researchers monitoring its movements.

The Kirtland's warbler is doing so well in Michigan, it may be de-listed as an endangered species.

That opens up a host of questions, because the bird depends on state and federal management programs for its survival.

So officials are working on establishing a private endowment fund to continue clearing and planting jack pines for warbler habitat in the state.

Then, agencies could devote more time to another endangered species while ensuring the survival of the warbler, which nests mostly in northeast Michigan and winters in the Bahamas.

"When you talk about the Kirtland's warbler, you have to understand that it's a conservation-reliant species that needs to be managed into perpetuity," said Paul Thompson, a U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist at the Huron Shores Ranger Station in Oscoda.

"We can't just walk away."

Last year, 1,791 singing males were counted in Michigan, up from 1,697 the year before and the highest number since monitoring began in 1951.

It's the seventh year in a row that the warbler has exceeded recovery goals set when the bird was listed as endangered in the 1970s.

The recovery goal back then was 1,000 singing males. The bird faced extinction in 1974 and 1987, when only 167 signing males were recorded.

Thompson said the Kirtland's warbler is different than other birds.

"The bald eagle, for example, was delisted in August 2007," he said.

"We're going to monitor the bird for five years and if everything looks good, that will be it. That's a major success story."

The warbler's recovery also is a success story, but the bird can't take care of itself.

Historically, warbler habitat was sustained through natural wildfire. The birds nest in stands of young jack pines.

But fire suppression and home development means blazes don't burn naturally anymore. State and federal agencies manage the bird's habitat through clear-cutting old stands of jack pines, and burning or using mechanical equipment to prepare the land for new seedlings.

Thompson said the endowment amount has yet to be determined, but it would be funded by foundations.

The Huron-Manistee National Forests spends about $350 an acre to maintain warbler habitat on its lands, a portion of which is offset by timber sales, Thompson said. About 38,000 of 150,000 acres set aside for the bird are maintained on a rotating basis in Michigan.

The warbler management program has been controversial.

Agencies once used prescribed burns to create habitat, and some fires have gotten out of control in the past. Residents also have complained about the clear-cutting of forests.

Tony Rosebrugh of West Branch, said he thinks clear-cut land "looks crappy," but he sees the positives to the bird's recovery.

That includes tourism from birders who flock to see the warbler and wood from the clear-cutting that's used to power co-generation power plants in Grayling and elsewhere.

Rosebrugh, co-owner of TR Timber Co., has been hired to cut some of the mature jack pines as part of warbler management.

"What's made it work is they do the clearing and follow through with the planting," he said.

Patrick J. Rusz, a wildlife biologist with the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy in Bath, said he thinks the warbler's recovery is something to celebrate.

Rusz said a delisting may result in less new habitat being created for the bird, which may help quell some of the controversy surrounding warbler management in Michigan.

"It would maybe take it out of the range of aggressive management to boost the population further as opposed to maintaining what you've got," Rusz said.

He said it's also worth noting that other rare species like the sharp-tailed grouse rely on the jack pine habitat.

Thompson said a Kirtland's warbler recovery team of state and federal officials hopes to make recommendations by the end of the year on the bird's future.

The recommendations will be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.